The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-07-21
MASTER AND SLAVE.
THE TRUE SITUATION IN ANTE
BELLUM DAYS.
The Emancipation Of the Southern
Whites and its Effect on Both
Races.
Baltimore Manufacturers Record

Under the above heading, the Hon
John ". Johnston, of Richmond, fol
many years a member OF the United
States Senate from Virginia, com
mences in the Manufacfnre1s' Rfc0yu
OF July 9, an exceedingly interesting
and valuable article, that is sure t
command wide attention. All the
world, says Mr.. Johnston, knew thai
the black man in the South was q
slave, but none recognized or were
conscious of the fact that the white
man was slave also. 1t is true he
could not be bought and sold, nor was
he directly subject to the orders of a
master, but nevertheless, he was a
bondsman, and the chains that en-
numbered him were as ineXorable as
those that bound the co!ored race.
The negro was a slave to him, and he
was slave to the situation. He was
charged with being an indolent lover
Of pleasure, lacking in industry, ener-
gy and enterprise, following year after
year and generation after generation
the same old beaten track, with no
apparent wish to leave it and no ca
pacity to do SO if he wished. He was
reproached for persisting long and
tenaciously in one uniform course ;
that he was blind to the vast resources
and capacities Of the country he lived
in; that he was surrounded by mines
Of wealth, and did not care, Or have
the vigor to utilize them, but 'snever," "
says Mr.. Johnson, was there more
mistaken idea, and never was there
4 people 50 little understood or SO
much misjudged as the Southern plan
ter and farmer"
All over the civilized world, even in
the United States, with It's unlimited
variety of products, its public lands
and its institutions, which open any
life to any Of its citizens, the problem
is: CHOW to provide employment tor
the laboring classes:?", Here, business
has been disturbed, loss and suffering
incurred, and society shaken by the
strikes which have become 50 frequent
and so widespread, SO easily induced
and SO hard to settle. The problem
has engaged the attention, most pro
found, Of statesmen, social scientists
and governments in all European nations;
but no adequate remedy has yet been
found, nor a satisfactory answer to the
question yet given. And the same
problem existed in the Southern States,
though in different form than pre-
vailinG elsewhere.
In New England farming was not
a profitable pursuit, because the lands
lacked fertility and the people Of that
section naturally turned to manufac-
lures. When business wss depressed
and the market ovcrstocked the manu-
facturer was confronted with the ques-
ton of what to do with those who had
no work.
Exactly the same thing was going
on in the South, but not 50 noticeably.
The negroes were the laboring class
there, and work and employment had
to be found for them. The condition
of slavery itself kept them confined
to their homes. They were not free
to leave one employer and 60 to an
other, as the Northern and European
laborcr was, but master and slave were
bound together-they were coupled,
and the ligament was a strong one.
What the Southern white man had to
do was to see that his laboring class
had work, and had it at home. He
was ristri d to one class Of laborers
and one locality. And he was obliged
to conform his business also to the
sort of work his men could do and
what was most profitable.
Thus the persistence of the Southern
man i'll adhering year after year to the
same course of life did not arise from
incapacitv to engage successfully in
some other, but purely from his sur
roundings. He could not abandon it
without disastrous results to himself, to
the negro, to the State and the world
If ever men were impelled by an
irresistible force, it was the Southern
white man. What did it matter to
him if the earth beneath his feet was
loaded with all the minerals which
contribute to the wealth, convenience
or enjoyment of manhood, or that the
stream running by his door had water
power enough to turn a thousand
wheels? He could not utilize them
he was bound hand and foot-bound
70 his slaves, bound to his plantation,
bound to cotton, to his habits of life,
to the exigencies of the situation, to
the necessity of providing for his
slaves, SO many Of whom were non
producers. There may have been
more WAYS than one elsewhere to an
swer the question d" How to find work
for the laboring classes?" and more
latitude III solving ii; but to him there
was only one answer-labor in the
field. He saw no other way, nor has